


Perfect Strangers

by brightredbirdie



Series: Unlikely Bedfellows [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, Gen, Starfleet Academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-19 22:05:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2404529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightredbirdie/pseuds/brightredbirdie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim would be the first to admit she’s not his — well, usual fare. The square-jawed blonde sitting across the aisle from him is a good ten years his senior, cool crystal-blue eyes fixed on the professor, by all appearances fully engaged in their history of early space exploration lecture. But she’s tapping her stylus impatiently against her thigh and behind her rigidly impassive expression he can almost see the gears turning in her brain. She’s bored as hell, if he’s any judge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perfect Strangers

Jim would be the first to admit she’s not his — well, usual fare. The square-jawed blonde sitting across the aisle from him is a good ten years his senior, cool crystal-blue eyes fixed on the professor, by all appearances fully engaged in their history of early space exploration lecture. But she’s tapping her stylus impatiently against her thigh and behind her rigidly impassive expression he can almost _see_ the gears turning in her brain. She’s bored as hell, if he’s any judge.

He snakes a leg across the aisle to nudge her foot with his, and grins suggestively when she glances over. She rolls her eyes, a clear show of disinterest, but doesn’t immediately refocus her attention on the professor, which he considers a win. _Bored?_ he mouths.

Blondie hesitates a second, tugging on the loose strand of hair tumbling out of her bun, then shrugs. _I can deal_.

 _Find something else to do?_ he offers, and if she picks up on the leer, she ignores it with aplomb. She raises her eyebrows in a silent question and it’s his turn to shrug.

Finally, she looks away, scribbling something down on her PADD. When she passes it over to him the next time the professor’s back is turned, Jim sees it’s a hastily-drawn gallows, eight blank spaces underlined neatly next to it. He almost laughs out loud. Fucking hangman, really?

But he goes along with it—history of early space exploration has a real chance of boring him to death, ironically succeeding in killing him where the rest of his past had failed, and even a game that was dated a couple centuries ago seems like a solid option right now. He jots down E, A, and O in the corner and hands the PADD back over.

Half an hour later, he’s only four for seven rounds in the damn game, and he’s starting to actually like this girl. When the bell rings for the end of class, he grins over at her as she shoves her PADD into her bag. “So, that was more fun than expected.”

“I’m not sleeping with you,” is her immediate reply.

 “What?”

“I know who you are, Jim Kirk. You’ve already got quite the reputation.” He starts to protest, hands already half-raised in a clueless gesture, but the hard edges in her eyes when she looks back up at him stop him cold. “So I’d like to make it clear: I’m not sleeping with you,” she repeats, neatly punctuating the statement by standing and turning away.

He’s stymied for only a moment. Then he puts on his best grin and trots after her. “That’s cool.”

“Really.” She sounds unconvinced.

“Hey, I’m allowed to make friends, too,” he answers, shrugging and smiling easily. She just sighs and keeps walking. They get halfway across the quad before he prods, “So, what are you studying?”

She huffs a little. “Xenobiology. I’m a nurse.”

“Ooooo, that’s— Hey, hey, no, I’m not hitting on you again, honest! I was just going to say a friend of mine’s in Medical, too. You know Leonard McCoy?”

“McCoy?” She pauses a little. “I can’t believe he’d be caught dead with you.”

 “I know, right. It’s weird as hell.”

His easy smiles don’t falter, but she looks at him sharply for a second nonetheless.

“…Yeah,” she says, shifting her bag on her shoulder. “Anyway, it was great to meet you, Cadet Kirk—”

“Jim.”

She pauses again. “…Jim. It was great meeting you and all, but I’ve got another class.”

“Yeah. Sorry.” He shrugs, still smiling. “Nice meeting you, too, Cadet…?”

She huffs, glancing over at the Medical buildings in front of them and then back to him. “Chapel,” she finally answers. “You can call me Christine, I guess.”


End file.
